Teachers are the backbone of our democratic society. They prepare children to read, write, think critically, innovate, collaborate, lead, and take on the challenges of the world. Unfortunately, teaching has gotten a bad rap lately and, as a result, fewer young people and career-changers are pursuing teaching as a vocation. Illinois is experiencing a teacher shortage, as are many other states across the country. This troubling trend means some students do not have licensed, fully qualified

Language, I believe, is the driving force in interpersonal communication and life as most of us know it. And, while just about every language is flawed in its incapacity to address falls short in addressing the breadth of human emotion, these languages are more than capable of guiding masses of people around the world as they go about their lives. I have been fascinated with language since I was a young child. I grew up speaking Turkish and didn’t learn any English until I started daycare. I

Of course you know the dozen reasons why May is the sweetest month. But put aside for now May’s eye candy—the orioles and buntings and tulips. And May’s nosegays—hyacinths and lilacs and lilies of the valley. You must put aside even crappie fishing, for now, to focus on May’s rarest gift: morel mushrooms. You’ve waited 50 weeks for their arrival. But now, somewhere on the edge of a forest, it’s beginning; morels are pushing themselves through the duff. You’d rather hunt for mushrooms than

At a young age, I vividly recall announcing to my dad that I could never be a garbage man. He asked why, and I said the job was dirty, gross, and exhausting. His eyes widened and he proceeded to laugh. I felt bewildered, since I didn’t find this observation funny. He said that, as a kid, he worked from dusk ’til dawn, removing rocks from corn fields and loading hay. My dad thoroughly believed this experience transformed him into a hard-working man. His motto became: “Work every day, or the

The media surround us, planting images and ideals in our minds of what our bodies should look and feel like. The media rarely acknowledge that “healthy” can vary between individuals. You don’t need to be a size zero to feel healthy. You don’t need to look like the magazine model who has undergone three rounds of Photoshop, or the guy with massive muscles who swallows steroids daily but claims a “healthy lifestyle.” Healthy should be feeling good in your own skin. Furthermore, no one can achieve

I increased the volume of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 . I puffed hard. The little red-headed cigarette burnt impatiently. I could feel it reach the bottom of my lungs. I flew to cloud nine. I rolled my eyes and let my mind float with the music. Then, I penned this promise: “I’m done. I have enjoyed this. I have suffered enough from this. “Now, I vow to stop smoking. “One day, I will regret this, but it is my choice. This is my last cigarette.” Just like that two years ago, I decided to quit

As a child, I spent most of my time outdoors. Whether I jumped rope, drew with chalk, or rode my bike, I practically lived outside. March through October constituted prime playtime, so I reveled in the warm weather. Those eight months were filled with growth, both in the trees and in my mind. From outdoor play I gained a wild imagination, a strong sense of independence, and an irreplaceable bond with the earth in its purest form. The simplest things intrigued me, such as sidewalk cracks, bumpy

I grew up in a diverse family. My father is of German descent, and my mother has Polish and Yugoslavian blood. But my mother was born in Venezuela in 1960 and moved to America four years later. Ever since she came to Chicago at a young age, she assimilated into American culture that consequently makes her different from her family. I believe that my mother living in America for so long has helped her escape any form of criticism that we see nowadays. Since I have lived with diversity, I have

Today’s university graduates face increasing competition for employment. This competition comes not just from other qualified graduates across the globe but from algorithms, artificial intelligence and robots. And, in the face of this machinic incursion, I have just one piece of advice: Give up. For data-intensive occupations that rely on pattern recognition and repetitive operations, machines are simply better, stronger and faster. Algorithms now generate original written documents replacing

My husband and I have been keen fans of the BBC series, “Call the Midwife.” Set in post-war, poverty-stricken East London, the midwives – both religious and lay – face complicated birthing challenges in each episode. In each situation they show courage and grace, blended with their own human emotions and shortcomings. At the end of each episode, the narrator, Vanessa Redgrave, reflects on what was learned and celebrated. This past month, I was a midwife during our lambing season. Though we had